Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-21
disposed men can contrive or invent.

clothed with ample power and authority
to enforce obedience; otherwise they will
be illusOrY in character and useless in
action. The people expect their repre-
sertatives to guard well the doors OF
their treasury; and, under exist g finan-
cial conditions, we are compelled 10
scrutiniZe our expenditures with the ut
most vigilance and endeavor, by all fair
and honorable modes to reduce the ex-
penditures to the lowest practicable
! amount consistent with proper regard
to the public interest and an effective ad-
ministration of the government. But
they do not demand an unreasonable
strlngency which would incur the peril of
disastrous recoil, superinducing the
very state of things sought to be Stunned,
! by & sacrifice OF efficiency to false idea
of economy. We may boast III vain OF
our great natural resources, but we shall
! fail to impress the world by playing the
| giant abroad and the pigmy at home.
Our people are educated in law-abidiug
| habits, and their Instincts and their H.
terests are in favor Of peace, order and
| Justice. They present higher evidence
| Of thrift, economy, labor, wealth and
prCsperity-the natural results of obeci-
! given section Of the Union. And while
Insisting upon the exercise Of q wise and
| Just economy. they expect their repre-
| sentstiyes to infuse the necessary strength
I aud vigor into every department OF gov
eminent; fer they stand pledged to main
| tain the laws, foster progress, universal
education AID the elevation of the masses,
| protect labor, encourage capital and
I hr,s1 4 -
our people may be induced in fuller
| measure to rely upon their own resources,
and thus develop the greatest diversified
ton of commercial and industrial enter
prises TO add to the wealth end produc-
ti0n of the state, and the continued activ-
ity of those great and yit2l moral and
economic forces which underlie true
grandeur and which tend to cultivate and
enlarge an undying attachment to our
state, its history and its institutions, and
inspire profound state pride, as wei! as
sublime veLeration for the patriotic
| example of these who laid, broad and
deep, the foundations Of our state gov
eminent.
In every politg, whether civil or eccle-
siastical, the judicial system Is matter
CT the first importance, and needs to be
adjusted with the greatest care and &C
Curacy, to subSerye the ends of govern
ment in the repression of wrong and the
defense Of right. Laws are mere abstrac-
tiOns, and cannot enforce themselves, but
must be eXpounded ard faithfully APP
piled to serve their purpose and it is
quite possible to have wise system Of
legislation, and at the same time such
defective organism for enforcement as
that the laws will be either too lax or too
tardy in their operation, as is supposed
to be the case with our present system
The privilege of appeal is OF small value
to the citizen, where he is forced 20 wait
long years before he can have his rights
determined, the very lapse OF time Interven-
| ing working incalculeble injury, and, In
some instances, q practical denial of JUS
tice. Besides, it is impossible to com
pute the loss, in money and peace of
mind, to the citizen where he cannot have
his appeal heard, and mis- real or supposed
advantages speedily realized.
The interests of every state need, above
all else, Il strong bench, equal to the in
tellectual demands CT the people, always
remaining in justice and equity, in intel
leCt and earning, in freedomand courage,
the central orb Of the highest civilization,
and the sheet gIchOr of law and order.
The rich and powerful, with an ineXhaus
tible treasury, and 6 ready command of
the best legal talent at the bar, can take
care of themselves; but the surest, and
often only hope of the poor and weak, for
the protection Of person and property,is to
be found in the able judge, who pursues
the call of official duty regardless of a
temporary frenzy OF popular passion or
applause, or the corrupting influence of
un0ridled power.
But, after all, our laws must be sus-
tanned by moral sentiment, and personal
effort must supplement official action.
There are evils which statutes can
not reach or remedy; and when you have
passed all the constitutional laws apprO-
priate TO the situation, aud they have
been faithfully executed by the proper
officers, there will remain q great work
for the people which comes not within
the scope of legislation; and the reform
that is called for il this direction is NO
small matter. II will take combined and
continued effort, as well as wisdom, pa
tienCe and courage. Where 1t is wrong
public opinion must be changed, where it
is false punlic sentiment must be cor
rected. We must begin at the fireside,
keep it up in the school room, continue it
III the press, urge 1t in the pulpit, and
complete it in the courts Of justice.
The foundation of a successful self
government is widely diffused educa-
ton and high average of moral culture.
No people can be truly and permanently
great, in the highest and best sense of the
word, who DO not provide ample home
educational facilities for their youth. The
wise statesmen who preceded Us recog-
niZed the fact that our constitution rests
upon the virtue and intelligence of the
people, and whenever either one of these
ingredients fails, our government fails;
and with lofty patriotism they placed our
public school interests upon g subStan
tai and permanent basis.
Though our common schools are in 2
more advanced state than those Of any
other part OF the country, it is a matter
of profound regret that our reformatory
efforts to save neglected and forsaken
children have not kept pace with our
progress in common school education,
and hence our state is now cursed with q
large and rapidly increasing juvenile pop
ulation growing up in vice ana ignorance,
and sure of becoming adopts in crime
long before arriving at manhood. The
minds and hearts of these children con-
stitute part of our states productive
capital, Of far greater value in working
out the noblest destiny of noble people
than all its vast and varied natural re-
sources; and it is not only worse than
waste of capital, but bad political econ
omy to suffer any of them to grow up
to prey upon society.
no
rights which society must respect. 1t
cannot be pretended that it is the object
of punishment by the civil authorities
that the Individual punished shall receive /
the recompense of his crimes. This would |
not Only be futile, but usurpation of |
powers belonging to Deity alone. 1t is